Touch pad structure

ABSTRACT

A touch pad structure includes a touch module, a first bracket, a second bracket, and a plurality of linkage rods. The touch module is disposed on the first bracket. The second bracket is surrounding the first bracket and the touch module. A plurality of outer edges of the first bracket faces to a plurality of inner edges of the second bracket respectively. Each of the linkage rods is pivotally connected the outer edge and the inner edge facing to each other, so that the touch module is moved together with the first bracket and relative to the second bracket when the touch module is pressed or released, and the linkage rods have synchronized seesaw motion.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/148,598, filed on Jan. 14, 2021, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,314,343 B2,which claims priority to Taiwan Patent Application No. 109113791, filedon Apr. 24, 2020, and the content of which in its entirety is hereinincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The disclosure relates to a touch pad structure.

Description of Related Art

Vigorous development of electronic devices has facilitated human lives,and thus how to operate the electronic devices in a more user-friendlymanner is an important issue. For instance, common electronic devices inour daily lives include notebook computers, mobile phones, satellitenavigation devices, and so on. In order to operate the electronicdevices efficiently, touch pads acting as input devices has been widelyadopted to control the electronic devices.

Generally, a pressing point of a user on the touch pad does not stayunchanged, and different pressing points not only bring differentpressing feelings to the user but also affect motion stability of thetouch pad. Therefore, how to improve the pressing feeling when the useroperates the touch pad and improve motion stability of the touch pad hasdrawn more and more attention. At the same time, how to maintain thepressing feeling in the design trend of miniaturizing bodies of theelectronic devices in response to the requirements for compactness andlight weight of the electronic devices has become a research anddevelopment project to which relevant manufacturers are dedicated.

SUMMARY

The disclosure provides a touch pad structure, and the full field of thetouch pad structure can be pressed.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a touch pad structureincludes a touch module, a first bracket, a second bracket, and aplurality of linkage rods. The first bracket has a plurality of firstpivoting portions, and the touch module is disposed on the firstbracket. The second bracket has a plurality of second pivoting portions.Each of the linkage rods is pivotally connected between the firstpivoting portion and the second pivoting portion, so that the touchmodule is moved together with the first bracket when the touch module ispressed. One portion of each of the linkage rods is pivotally rotated atthe first pivoting portion, and another portion of each of the linkagerods is pivotally rotated and moved at the second pivoting portion, sothat the touch module and the first bracket are moved toward a planewhere the second bracket is located.

Based on the above, in the touch pad structure provided in one or moreembodiments of the disclosure, the touch module is disposed on the firstbracket, and the linkage rods are connected between the first bracketand the second bracket, so that one portion of each of the linkage rodsconnected to the first pivoting portion is pivotally rotated, andanother portion of each of the linkage rods connected to the secondpivoting portion is pivotally rotated and moved, whereby the firstbracket may be moved toward the plane where the second bracket islocated when the touch module is pressed. In other words, no matterwhich portion of the touch module is pressed by the user, the touchmodule and the first bracket may be smoothly moved relative to thesecond bracket in the above-mentioned manner due to the connectionrelationship of the linkage rods.

As such, it is unlikely for the touch pad structure not to receive anaverage force due to its driving structure. At the same time, the simplemechanism composed of the first bracket, the second bracket, and thelinkage rods may effectively reduce the thickness of the touch padstructure, so as to comply with the requirements for stable driving,light weight, and compactness.

Several exemplary embodiments accompanied with figures are described indetail below to further describe the disclosure in details.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitutea part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of thedisclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples described herein

FIG. 1 is a top view of a touch pad structure according to an embodimentof the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the touch pad structure in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the touch padstructure in FIG. 1 along a sectional line A-A.

FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the touch padstructure in FIG. 3A in another state.

FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the touch padstructure in FIG. 1 along a sectional line B-B.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a top view of a touch pad structure according to an embodimentof the disclosure. FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the touch pad structurein FIG. 1 . Here, rectangular coordinates X-Y-Z are provided tofacilitate descriptions of components. With reference to FIG. 1 and FIG.2 at the same time, in the embodiment, a touch pad structure 100includes a touch module 130, a first bracket 110, a second bracket 120,and a plurality of linkage rods 140. The first bracket 110 has aplurality of first pivoting portions 111, and the touch module 130 isdisposed on the first bracket 110. The second bracket 120 has aplurality of second pivoting portions 121. Each of the linkage rods 140is pivotally connected between the first pivoting portion 111 and thesecond pivoting portion 121, so that the touch module 130 is movedtogether with the first bracket 110 when the touch module 130 ispressed. One portion of each of the linkage rods 140 is pivotallyrotated at the first pivoting portion 111, and another portion of eachof the linkage rods 140 is pivotally rotated and moved at the secondpivoting portion 121, so that the first bracket 110 and the touch module130 on the first bracket 110 are moved toward the second bracket 120.

Here, relevant features of the touch pad structure 100 adapted to anotebook computer are depicted in the embodiment, which should howevernot be construed as a limitation in the disclosure; that is, the touchpad structure 100 may be substantially adapted to any electronic devicewhose operation requires a touch pad.

FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the touch padstructure in FIG. 1 along a sectional line A-A. With reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 , and FIG. 3A at the same time, specifically, the touch padstructure 100 further includes an upper cover 170 and a base 160,wherein the base 160 is formed by placing a supporting plate 161 on abottom board 162. The second bracket 120 is disposed on the supportplate 161, and after the first bracket 110, the linkage rods 140, andthe touch module 130 are completely assembled and arranged, the uppercover 170 is assembled to the base 160, and the touch module 130 isexposed by an opening 171 of the upper cover 170.

Furthermore, the first bracket 110 and the second bracket 120 form astacked frame body with the same central axis L1, which is shown in FIG.3A on the condition that the touch module 130 is not pressed. Anorthogonal projection of the first bracket 110 on a plane P1 where thesecond bracket 120 is located is surrounded by the second bracket 120.Here, the plane P1 is parallel to the x-y plane. That is, for the firstbracket 110, the first pivoting portions 111 are formed by winding aplurality of outer edges of the first bracket 110. The second bracket120 is a hollow frame body, and the second pivoting portions 121 areformed by bending a plurality of inner edges of the hollow frame body.In addition, each of the linkage rods 140 has a first rod body 141 andat least one second rod body 142 extending from the first rod body 141,wherein the first rod body 141 is pivotally connected to the firstpivoting portion 111, and the second rod body 142 is movably pivotallyconnected to the second pivoting portion 121. Here, the second rod body142 extends from two opposite ends of the first rod body 141 and is bentto form a rectangular outline with a gap.

After the corresponding connection relationship between the linkage rods140 and the first bracket 110 and the second bracket 120 arerespectively established, the first bracket 110 may float up and downrelative to the second bracket 120, i.e., the first bracket 110 movesalong the z-axis. Here, the orthogonal projection of the first bracket110 on the plane P1 where the second bracket 120 is located does notoverlap the second bracket 120, so that the touch module 130 and thefirst bracket 110 approach each other in parallel with respect to theplane P1 where the second bracket 120 is located when the touch module130 is pressed.

FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the touch padstructure in FIG. 3A in another state. With reference to FIG. 3A andFIG. 3B at the same time, when the first bracket 110 and the touchmodule 130 on the first bracket 110 are pressed, the process from whatis shown in FIG. 3A to what is shown in FIG. 3B is clearly illustrated.Namely, while the first bracket 110 and the touch module 130 thereon aremoved toward the plane P1 where the second bracket 120 is located, thefirst bracket 110 remains in a state parallel to the x-y plane. For thesecond bracket 120, the first bracket 110 or the touch module 130 may beconsidered as moving toward the second bracket 120 at an equal distance;that is, the distance from the plane P1 to any region on the same plane(parallel to the x-y plane) on the first bracket 110 or to any pressedregion on the same plane (parallel to the x-y plane) on the touch module130 remains unchanged during said moving process.

It should also be mentioned that for the second bracket 120, each of thesecond pivoting portions 121 has a gap 121 a facing away from the firstbracket 110, the first rod body 141 of each of the linkage rods 140 ispivotally rotated at the first pivoting portion 111, while the secondrod body 142 is simultaneously pivotally rotated and moved at the secondpivoting portion 121, wherein the moving direction is parallel to theplane P1 where the second bracket 120 is located. As shown in FIG. 2B,when the touch module 130 is pressed, the gap 121 a of the secondpivoting portion 121 provides a margin for the second rod body 142 tomove toward the positive y-axis direction, so that the first bracket 110and the touch module 130 may smoothly descend along the z axis.Meanwhile, the support plate 161 provided in the embodiment has aplurality of hollow-carved portions 161 a and a latching opening 161 b,and the latching opening 161 b corresponds to a latching portion 122 ofthe second bracket 120, so that the second bracket 120 may be smoothlyassembled on the support plate 161. Each of the hollow-carved portions161 a is located at a moving path of the first pivoting portion 111 (andthe first rod body 141) on the moving path, so that when the touchmodule 130 is pressed, the first pivoting portion 111 is partially movedinto the hollow-carved portion 161 a. That is, in addition to the movingpath of the first rod body 141 and the first pivoting portions 111 alongthe z axis, the hollow-carved portions 161 a of the support plate 161may further provide the first pivoting portions 111 with a margin ofmovement along the z axis. On the other hand, with reference to FIG. 2again, in the embodiment, the first pivoting portions 111 of the firstbracket 110, the second pivoting portions 121 of the second bracket 120,and the linkage rods 140 are symmetrical with respect to the centralaxis L1, respectively. That is, as shown in FIG. 2 , the first pivotingportions 111 are located at side edges of four outer edges of the firstbracket 110, and the second pivoting portions 121 are located at sideedges of four inner edges of the second bracket 120. Similarly, thelinkage rods 140 are located between the first bracket 110 and thesecond bracket 120 and surround the four outer sides of the firstbracket 110. Accordingly, the components constitute a mechanism thatallows the first bracket 110 (and the touch module 130 thereon) todistribute stress and move stably.

FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the touch padstructure in FIG. 1 along a sectional line B-B. With reference to FIG. 2and FIG. 3C, in comparison with FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, respectively, thetouch pad structure 100 provided in the embodiment further includes aplurality of elastic members 150, each of which has a dome structure andis disposed between the support plate 161 and the touch module 130;thereby, when the touch module 130 is pressed, as shown in FIG. 3B, thefirst bracket 110 is moved toward the plane P1 where the second bracket120 is located, and each of the elastic members 150 is deformed toaccumulate an elastic force. Next, in the state shown in FIG. 3B, whenthe user releases the force required for pressing the touch module 130(i.e., the touch module 130 is not pressed), the elastic forces of theelastic members 150 drive the first bracket 110 to move away from theplane P1 where the second bracket 120 is located, and the first bracket110 and the touch module 130 are restored to the state shown in FIG. 3A.

In the embodiment, the touch module 130 includes a glass layer 131, acircuit board 132, and a bonding layer 133 which are stacked together.After the glass layer 131 and the circuit board 132 are completelyassembled, the bonding layer 133 and the first bracket 110 are furtherassembled. Further, as shown in FIG. 3C, the circuit board 132 has abonding pad 132 a, and the elastic member 150 has a trigger portion 151.As such, when the touch module 130 is pressed, the trigger portion 151abuts against and conducts electricity to the bonding pad 132 a, therebygenerating a trigger signal. In the embodiment, the five elastic members150 with the same structure are arranged according to the look of thetouch pad structure 100, and the number of elastic members 150 or theirtrigger positions may be adjusted in response to various requirements.On the other hand, for the touch pad module 100, the elastic member 150at the center and the trigger mechanism (i.e., the bonding pad 132 a andthe trigger portion 151) are located at the same region, while theremaining four elastic members 150 are configured to provide overallbalance to the mechanism and maintain the gap at the opening 171 of theupper cover 170 of the touch module 130.

To sum up, in the touch pad structure provided in one or moreembodiments of the disclosure, the touch module is disposed on the firstbracket, and the linkage rods are connected between the first bracketand the second bracket, so that one portion of each of the linkage rodsconnected to the first pivoting portion is pivotally rotated, andanother portion of each of the linkage rods connected to the secondpivoting portion is pivotally rotated and moved, whereby the firstbracket may be moved toward the plane where the second bracket islocated when the touch module is pressed. In other words, no matterwhich portion of the touch module is pressed by the user, the touchmodule and the first bracket may be smoothly moved relative to thesecond bracket in the above-mentioned manner due to the connectionrelationship of the linkage rods.

Furthermore, in the thickness direction of the touch pad structure(i.e., along the z axis provided in the previous embodiment), the firstbracket and the second bracket are structurally connected merely by thelinkage rods, so as to form the alternately arranged structure (thefirst bracket is on the inside while the second bracket is on theoutside) with the same central axis. Therefore, the thickness of thetouch pad structure and the electronic device applying the touch padstructure may be effectively reduced. Besides, the touch pad structureprovided herein does not require the conventional scissor-switchmechanism and thus can comply with the requirement for slimness. Here,the slimness feature is not required by the touch pad structure itselfbut also by the body of the electronic device applying the touch padstructure.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the disclosed embodimentwithout departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view ofthe foregoing, it is intended that the disclosure covers modificationsand variations provided that they fall within the scope of the followingclaims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A touch pad structure, comprising: a touchmodule; a first bracket, the touch module being disposed on the firstbracket; a second bracket, surrounding the first bracket and the touchmodule, a plurality of outer edges of the first bracket facing to aplurality of inner edges of the second bracket respectively; and aplurality of linkage rods, each of the linkage rods being pivotallyconnected the outer edge and the inner edge facing to each other, sothat the touch module is moved together with the first bracket andrelative to the second bracket when the touch module is pressed orreleased, and the linkage rods have synchronized seesaw motion.
 2. Thetouch pad structure according to claim 1, wherein the first bracket andthe second bracket form a stacked frame body with a same central axis,and an orthogonal projection of the first bracket on a plane where thesecond bracket is located is surrounded by the second bracket.
 3. Thetouch pad structure according to claim 1, wherein the first bracket hasa plurality of first pivoting portions, and the second bracket has aplurality of second pivoting portions, wherein each of the linkage rodshas a first rod body and at least one second rod body extending from thefirst rod body, the first rod body is pivotally connected to one of thefirst pivoting portions, and the second rod body is movably pivotallyconnected to one of the second pivoting portions.
 4. The touch padstructure according to claim 3, wherein the first pivoting portions areformed by winding the outer edges of the first bracket.
 5. The touch padstructure according to claim 3, wherein the second bracket is a hollowframe body, and the second pivoting portions are formed by bending theinner edges of the hollow frame body.
 6. The touch pad structureaccording to claim 5, each of the second pivoting portions has a gapfacing away from the first bracket, and a moving direction of theanother portion of the each of the linkage rods in the correspondingsecond pivoting portion is parallel to a plane where the second bracketis located.
 7. The touch pad structure according to claim 3, furthercomprising a support plate, wherein the second bracket is disposed onthe support plate, the support plate has a plurality of hollow-carvedportions, each of the hollow-carved portions is located on a moving pathof the first pivoting portions, so that one portion of the firstpivoting portions is moved into the hollow-carved portion when the touchmodule is pressed.
 8. The touch pad structure according to claim 7,further comprising a plurality of elastic members, each of the elasticmembers being disposed between the support plate and the touch module,wherein when the touch module is pressed, the first bracket is movedtoward a plane where the second bracket is located, and each of theelastic members is deformed to accumulate an elastic force; when thetouch module is not pressed, the elastic force of the elastic membersdrives the first bracket to move away from the plane where the secondbracket is located, so as to restore the touch module.
 9. The touch padstructure according to claim 3, wherein the first bracket and the secondbracket form a stacked frame body with a same central axis, and thefirst pivoting portions, the second pivoting portions, and the linkagerods are symmetrical with respect to the central axis.
 10. The touch padstructure according to claim 1, where the first bracket floats up anddown relative to the second bracket through the linkage rods, and anorthogonal projection of the first bracket on a plane where the secondbracket is located does not overlap the second bracket, so that thetouch module and the first bracket approach each other in parallel withrespect to the plane where the second bracket is located when the touchmodule is pressed.